[imagebrowser id=259] MUMBAI: Superstar Kamal Haasan’s ambitious pet project ‘Vishwaroop’ finally kicked off with a press conference in Mumbai’s posh suburban star hotel, JW Marriott. The bilingual film stars Kamal Haasan in a lead role, and Pooja Kumar, Rahul Bose, Andrea Jeremiah and Jaideep Ahlawat.
Most of the cast and crew of this magnum opus was present at the press con. We spotted multi-faceted writer-director-producer and lead actor Kamal Haasan, in a sunshine yellow tee and jeans. He was flanked by his heroines, Pooja Kumar and Andrea Jeremiah in short cocktail dresses. We also caught a glimpse of yesteryear superstar and father to TV czarina Ekta Kapoor, Jeetendra at this grand press con. Also present were music directors- Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy.
Kamal Haasan’s ambitious ‘Vishwaroop’ has seen many a turmoil during its making. The bilingual Indian spy thriller film was shot with the same cast in both languages simultaneously, which is in itself an incredible feat. Further, several crew members were brought on board straight from Hollywood, and Haasan took over the reigns of direction from Selvaraghavan. Dealing with changes in casting was a nightmare for the film’s makers, with several original cast members dropping out of the project due to delays.
This list of drop-outs included Sonakshi Sinha, who was initially on board to play Haasan’s wife. The makers then had Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor and Vidya Balan in mind- but none of these names worked out after all.
However, the film overcame these and many other hurdles and the first look was released in May 2012. The first poster saw Kamal Haasan wearing a green khaki jacket, with a flying pigeon and the impressive skyline of a city as the backdrop. A teaser trailer which had snippets of the film was unveiled during the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) weekend and awards in Singapore in June. Haasan also revealed the synopsis of the film, adding that a sequel was already planned and several sequences had already been shot featuring Andrea Jeremiah in a more prominent role.
‘Vishwaroop’ will release next year, with nearly 3000 prints.
